Wisdom tooth extraction

Extracting impacted wisdom teeth

By the age of 17, many people begin to experience their wisdom teeth, or third molars, erupting at the ends of their dental ridges. For some people, wisdom teeth pose no problems, but for many others, lack of room leads to the molars being forced into a diagonal or horizontal growth pattern. As they continue trying to erupt from the gums, impacted wisdom teeth push against the molars already present, sometimes causing severe discomfort, damage to other teeth, and continuously worse dental issues. Therefore, extracting the wisdom teeth is often the only way to restore harmony to your bite and protect the rest of your smile.

Removing cumbersome third molars

Unlike a severely damaged or infected tooth, wisdom teeth are extraneous remnants of our ancestors, who had larger jawbones to accommodate the extra chewing power. Because our diets are softer, we don’t need wisdom teeth, and therefore they don’t need to be replaced after being extracted. However, if your other teeth have been forced out of alignment or sustained damage, then you may need restorative treatment to realign and repair your bite.